In recent years, there has been realized a system which connects a server apparatus, for example, a World Wide Web server (hereinafter referred to as WWW server), which holds various kinds of information, and a computer (Web client), in which special purpose software (WWW browser) for accessing this WWW server using the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) is installed, with a network so as to make it possible for the Web client to refer to data on the WWW server.
With this system, the data on the WWW server can be downloaded to the Web client using the WWW browser. Thus, a user of the Web client is capable of printing the data on the WWW server by, for example, instructing a printer usable from the Web client to print and output data which is stored in the Web client once. In addition, for example, as described in JP-A-2000-39982, a printer is capable of acquiring data from a WWW server according to an instruction from a computer to perform printing on the basis of the acquired data.
However, although information desired by the user is included in the data on the WWW server which the user refers to using the WWW browser, information not required by the user may be included therein.
In the case where the user refers to data of the HTML format such as a Web page with the WWW browser, the WWW browser sequentially acquires the data, which is referred to by the user, from the data of the HTML format while interpreting the data of the HTML format and displays the Web page. In this case, information which is less important for the user and information which is highly important for the user may be mixed in information displayed by the WWW browser.
In instructing printing from the WWW browser, in general, entire information displayed on a display is printed. Therefore, when the user instructs printing of a certain Web page, even if information which the user does not need or information with low necessity is included in the page, entire information in the page is converted into print data and printed.
In the case of the data of the HTML format, most of information is referred to according to hyperlink, and the WWW browser analyzes the information and acquires and displays necessary information. Then, it is difficult for the user to change a data acquisition operation of the WWW browser according to importance for information. After all, information which the user does not wish to print is included in print data.
As an example of such information which the user does not wish to print, there is image information. In recent years, a Web page tends to include a large quantity of image information, and the image information itself often becomes large in size. Thus, in the case where a Web page including many images is converted into print data and sent to a printer, processing load of the printer increases, and the printer cannot perform high-speed print processing. In addition, printing of an image consumes a relatively large quantity of recording materials compared with printing of data such as text data.